Data systems are currently in wide use. They often help organizations perform day-to-day tasks.
By way of example, many business data systems are currently in wide use. Such business data systems can include, for example, enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems, customer resource management (CRM) systems, line-of-business (LOB) systems, and other business data systems.
In order to use a business data system, an organization normally begins with a base business data system that may be purchased by a seller. By way of example, assume that an organization is to begin using an ERP system. The organization may first determine the types of processing it needs from the ERP system, in order to implement its business. Then, the organization may purchase a base ERP system, from a seller, which meets many of the needs of the organization.
However, in general, the organization will normally customize the base ERP system, and add certain functional components to it, in order to have all of the needs of the organization met. That is, the base ERP system is not likely to fit 100 percent of the organization's needs. Therefore, there are gaps in the functionality provided by the base ERP system. By way of example, the base ERP system may be a 60 percent fit to the needs of the organization, but 40 percent of the functionality is not met (i.e., it falls in a gap). Therefore, customizations and modifications of the base ERP system are made in order to fill the gaps. The gaps are sometimes listed on a document referred to as a “fit gap list”.
It can be very difficult to generate a fit gap list in a meaningful way. There are few, if any, tools which generate a visual representation of the functionality provided by an existing ERP (or other business data) system. Therefore, these visualizations are normally generated using a highly manual process. Similarly, it is very difficult to identify functionality which is missing, or which needs to be modified, for a given organization even after the visual representation of the base ERP system has been generated. Again, identifying the gaps in this way has been a highly manual, and non-standardized effort.
The discussion above is merely provided for general background information and is not intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter.